A day after orders were issued asking medical staff to stay in Delhi if their work involves travelling there, Ghaziabad administration issued a clarification Thursday saying it was not compulsory.

A day after orders were issued asking medical staff to stay in Delhi if their work involves travelling there, Ghaziabad administration issued a clarification Thursday saying it was not compulsory. The District Magistrate asked the Municipal Commissioner to ‘show cause’ for issuing the order without taking doctors, RWAs into confidence.

“We did not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments; the order was not meant to be compulsory. The appeal was made keeping in mind the coronavirus situation, and on suggestion of the surveillance team to restrict border movement. We hope the administration will provide co-operation in our fight against COVID-19,” said Dr Narendra Gupta, CMO, Ghaziabad. The order had come in the wake of the administration attributing 71% of cases to outside the district.

The Municipal Commissioner had issued the order asking RWAs to convey to those working in Delhi hospitals or receiving treatment to find accommodation there to prevent spread of infection. Doctors had said they felt “betrayed” by the move. “We are a group of 100-150 doctors working at Delhi government hospitals. We are strongly against this order,” said Dr Seema Prakash, representative of Indian Medical Association, West Ghaziabad and a senior gynaecologist.

An RWA in Ghaziabad had also sent a circular stating entry of para-medical staff and doctors would be stopped in the complex from Sunday and asked them to find temporary accommodation in Delhi.

Meanwhile in Noida, healthcare staff at Felix Hospital held a protest outside a housing society in Sector 137. According to protesters, residents blamed staff for “spreading disease” after one of them contracted COVID-19 allegedly from a nurse at the hospital. Both patient and nurse tested positive.